Do you have a question about the practicum that is not answered here? If so, email fnis.practicum@ubc.ca.
View the Practicum Partners’ Brochure here!
FAQ for Practicum Partners
While we do have some Program requirements that projects must meet – for example, the organizational work must have a research component, a timeline that can be completed from November to February and meet research ethics requirements – the guiding principle of the practicum is that projects are based on your ideas and are designed to meet your needs.
Students will have approximately 120 total hours to work on their practicum project. This allows for about eight hours per week to work on their projects, beginning in mid-October and concluding by the end of February. However, these hours can be flexible depending on the nature of the project and the needs of your organization. This should be negotiated in the early stages of the research project design.
Students begin to design their projects in mid-September. Project work that does not require research ethics review can begin as early as mid-October. Project work requiring research ethics review can begin as soon as approval from the Ethics Committee is received.
First Nations and Indigenous Studies is an interdisciplinary program, incorporating course work from many departments and allowing students to develop their own areas of interest within Indigenous topics (e.g. women’s issues, self-government). The Program is built around a core of courses and is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in First Nations and Indigenous Studies and the skills necessary to work effectively in community-based environments. In the third year students take courses in theory and research methodology that provide a basis for their work in the fourth-year practicum. A high percentage of students in the Program are from First Nations communities, but other students, including international students, also enroll in our courses.
First Nations and Indigenous Studies will arrange a meeting on campus with all Indigenous communities and organizations that have expressed interest in a practicum student. At this meeting you will have an opportunity to meet with the practicum students to talk about your practicum project and your organization. Following the meeting students will submit a resume and cover letter to several organizations. You will have the opportunity to interview any students interested in your project to ensure a good match. Once you have accepted a student, we will work with you and the student to finalize project design, including timelines, evaluation criteria, and responsibilities.
It is extremely important for a student to work well with your organization. You are not obligated to accept any student you do not think would work well with your organization.
Your role as a supervisor of the student will vary considerably depending on the nature of your project. If, for instance, you have a student working to organize an archive, you may need to do fairly little supervision beyond identifying the materials, your conditions for working with them, providing support throughout the ethics process, and what you hope for as an outcome, though of course you may have more information or direction you want to share. If you are asking the student to assist in the preparation of documentation for an application for funding, you might want to direct the student more often as to what needs to be done and whether the work they are doing will work the way you want it to. If you are directing a research project in which the student plays a very specific role, your supervision is likely to be far more extensive.
In September, we invite all organizations interested in a practicum student to a meeting at UBC to introduce themselves to the class and talk about their project and organization. Students benefit greatly from this meeting; however, if you are unable to attend, we can forward information about your project and organization to the students in the course. In March, we invite you back to UBC when the practicum students present their projects. During the rest of the year, we are happy to meet with you on campus, at your organization, or on the telephone to discuss the progress the students are making on their projects.
At the beginning of the project we will assist you and the student in formalizing the mode of evaluation most suitable to the work being done. Program staff will compile a final evaluation based on your evaluation and the student’s final presentation to the Program and your letter of evaluation, for which a template will be provided.
The practicum positions are not paid positions. Students complete the practicum as part of a senior-level course requirement, FNIS 400–Research Practicum.
Yes. Some students have gone on to work for their organizations in short-term and long-term positions after completing their practicums.
UBC’s First Nations and Indigenous Studies gratefully acknowledges its practicum partners, past and present:
2020/2021
- Britannia Community Services Centre
- First Nations Health Authority
- First Nations Housing and Infrastructure Council
- John Howard Society Pacific
- Mother’s Matter Centre
- Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
- Urban Ink
2019/2020
- First Nations Health Authority
- Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
- Native Youth Sexual Health Network
- Tsleil-Waututh Nations
- Mother’s Matter Centre
- YWCA – Career Zone
- WAVAW (Women Against Violence Against Women)
- Inclusion BC
- Carnegie Centre
2018/2019
- McCreary Centre Society
- Little Mountain Neighbourhood House Society
- Atira
- Urban Ink
- YWCA Crabtree Corner Community Resource Centre
- Fraser River Basin Council
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs
- Colville Confederated Tribes
- National Film Board
- Carnegie Community Centre
2017/2018
- ACCESS
- Britannia Community Services Centre
- Carnegie Centre
- Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw
- Onashowewin Justice Circle
- Pivot Legal Society
- Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society
- Vancouver Art Gallery
- YMCA
2016/2017
- CiTR Radio
- UBC Enrolment Services
- UBC Outdoor Environmental Education
- Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT)
- Fraser Basin Council
- Urban Ink
- Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre (VACPC)
- BC Association of Family Resource Programs
- UBC Learning Exchange
- South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
- Musqueam 101
- First Nations Snowboard Association
- First Peoples Cultural Council (FPCC)
2015/2016
- grunt gallery
- UBC Museum of Anthropology
- Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT)
- CiTR Radio
- Strive Program – YWCA
- McCreary Centre Society
- Native Education College (NEC)
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
- First Peoples’ Cultural Council
2014/2015
- Urban Ink Productions
- grunt gallery
- McCreary Centre Society
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
- Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT)
- CiTR Radio
- Aboriginal Mothers Centre Society
- Strive Program – YWCA
2013/2014
- Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS)
- Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
- First Nations Snowboard Team
- Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society
- Britannia Community Centre
- First Nations Health Authority
- The Blanche Macdonald Project
2012/2013
- Women Against Violence Against Women
- Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Resource Centre
- Aboriginal HIPPY Canada
- Kwikwetlem First Nation
- Longhouse Council of Native Ministry
2011/2012
- Vancouver Coastal Health
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society
- Dakota Wicohan
- Women Against Violence Against Women
- Institute for Aboriginal Health
- First Nations Education Steering Progam
2010/2011
- Stó:lo Tribal Council
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society
- Nesika Cultural and Heritage Society
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
2009/2010
- Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society
- Vancouver School Board
- Stó:lo Tribal Council
- Britannia Community Services Centre Society
- Legal Services Society
- Musqueam Indian Band
- UBC Museum of Anthropology
- Battered Women’s Support Services
2008/2009
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
- Aboriginal Education, Vancouver School Board
- UBC E-Health Strategy Office (has transitioned to Digital Emergency Medicine)
- First Nations Health Council
2007/2008
- Stó:lo Tribal Council
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
- Aboriginal Mothers Center Society
- Legal Services Society
- The Edward Curtis Project
- Native Brotherhood of BC
2006/2007
- The First Nations Education Steering Committee
- Musqueam Indian Band
- Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of British Columbia
- The Partners Task Group at the BC Council for Families
- Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society
2005/2006
- Aboriginal History and Media Arts Lab
- British Columbia Assembly of First Nations
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
- Vancouver School Board & Big Red Barn Media Group
2004/2005
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)
- Museum of Anthropology
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society
- British Columbia Assembly of First Nations
- Aboriginal Mother Centre Society
- Vancouver Métis Community Association
2003/2004
- EAGLE – Environmental-Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education
- The National Film Board
- Native Education College
- Aboriginal Women’s Collective
- Native Court Worker and Counselling Association of BC
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)